louisville and ohio state to go to the final four. crazy that it's been four months since the election and he still needs florida and ohio to win. >> have you wondered how beyonce lost her baby weight so fast? i have. wonder no more. in a recent interview with shape magazine, the grammy winner revealed she gained 57 pounds and needed to lose it fast for an upcoming concert. her secret, lots and lots of dance workouts. the reason we're worting this next story is because "the new york daily news" is reporting a bizarre story from the set of the hit show "mad men." according to unnamed sources, the show's star is not a fan of wearing undergarments and this season the show has its character wearing tight fitting '60s styles slacks. in an effort to cut down on what is reported to be a major distraction, he was politely asked to start wearing underwear. and now i'm blushing. the much guarded plot of the new transformers film was slipped out by the michigan film office likely to the dismay of

michael bay who has been trying to keep everything under wraps. and pop star pink stopped a concert mid song when she noticed a little girl in the crowd crying after discovering the girl was upset about an altercation near her seat, she cheered her up with a toy and treat from the stage. "way too early" starts right now. i'd rather be heckled than ignored. or as i like to say, you only tease the ones you love. >> even 6,000 miles can come between president obama and speaker boehner. good morning, i'm bill karins. this is "way too early." we're glad you're up with us. we have a lot to talk about this morning including obama signalling that chemical weapons in syria could be a game changer. the tough new words lead to u.s. boots on the ground to stop the

violence? plus the new pope hints at potential changes in the catholic church, namely the celibacy rule in the church as a priest. will he be the one to break that century's old rule? we'll have more on that straight ahead. but first, the news live at 5:30 a.m. here at 30 rock in new york city. president obama touched down on the west bank city of ramallah on the second leg of the four day visit. he was greeted moments ago. the two leaders are set to talk to reporters a few hours from now. later, president obama will hold a roundtable discussion with young palestinians. it follows the president's meetings with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu yesterday. there much of the focus was on iran's nuclear ambitions. >> we agree that a nuclear armed iran would be a threat to the region, a threat to the world and potentially a threat to israel. all options are on the table. we will do what is necessary to prevent iran from getting the world's worst weapons.

today we'll hear more about the stalled middle east peace process and what can be done to jump-start negotiations. peter alexander joins us live from jerusalem. good morning to you, peter. while we were asleep in the u.s., some interesting developments out of gaza last night. >> reporter: yeah. that's exactly right. this sort of emphasized the importance of reaching a peace deal between the palestinians and israelis. two rockets were fired by hamas militants in gaza that landed in the southern israel city of sderot. this is a city that president visited on the last trip to the region in 2008. nobody was hurt there. but again, it sort of brings new attention to the volatility in this region. just yesterday the president toured the iron dome system, that's israel's air defense shield system. it is built by the israelis but largely paid for by the u.s. the u.s. will spend more than $600 million over three years supporting that system.

it's viewed really this effort as one by hamas. the rivals to the palestinian authority in the west bank to try to disrupt any future peace talks. on that front, even as we speak right now, behind closed doors president obama is visiting with the palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas w. the conversation, of course, is really an opportunity for the president to listen. he did not come here with any new peace plan, no effort to relaunch the peace talks at this time. but i hopes that the conversation now will help him be in a better position to do so going forward. the entire visit is really designed on this day to for the president to reaffirm his commitment to israel in this region. he said in his own language, we have your back about iran. he said he will do whatever is necessary to prevent iran from getting nuclear weapons. he referred to those weapons, bill, as the world's worst weapons. >> peter, any behind the scenes

kind of insider information that happened? anything interesting or even fun yesterday during the first day of the trip? >> reporter: yeah, you know already today there was interesting things that took place. we had a chance to see behind the scenes as the president was doing some cultural stops here in israel. in particular, he was making a stop at the israel museum where he saw the dead sea scrolls. these are ancient hebrew text that highlight the ancient connection between the jewish people and the state of israel. and then he went to tour what was a technology exposition. there is an area near tel aviv that is like the silicon valley of israel. you could see in the president's eyes he was impressed by the technology that's are being built here, many of which are benefiting americans and other people around world. >> peter alexander, enjoy the rest of your trip, peter. another major issue is the civil war in syria and claims the syrian military used chemical weapons. something the president says has

the potential to completely reshape america's approach to the conflict. >> we have to make sure that we know exactly what happened, what was the nature of the incident? what can we document and what can we prove? i instructed my teams to work closely with all of the countries in the region and international organizations and institutions to find out precisely whether or not this red line was crossed. once we establish the facts, i have made clear that the use of chemical weapons is a game changer. >> the syrian government blames terrorist groups for the alleged chemical attack. it triggered new calls on capitol hill to arm opposition forces, something sharply divided members of congress. lawmakers are debating the potential that weapons provided by the u.s. could fall into the wrong hands. john boehner says congress should be consulted before the administration carries out any potential military action. boehner says that did not happen before the u.s. became involved

in libya. now to an issue of gun reform where republicans have seen their bill stripped down in the face of tough opposition. "the new york times" reports dianne feinstein stormed from harry reid's office monday when she was informed that her ban would not be included in the bill. the measure never had a chance citing lobbying and the nra and concerns from both parties doubt about the impact on stopping gun violence and lack of support from the gun safety groups like that of former congresswoman gabrielle giffords. instead of imposing new regulations, republicans are calling for existing laws to be enforced. >> do you think background checks and improving background checks will be part of that? >> they should actually do a real background check on everyone. and maybe the department of justice ought to enforce the law. >> still vice president joe

biden one of the main advocates on a ban on military style rifles says he believes most americans agree with him. >> the competing budget plans are mild apart but at least there is not a government shutdown to worry about, at least for a while. the senate passed a bill to keep federal agencies funded through the end of september. round of applause. the rare bipartisan compromise was approved by a 73-26 vote. while the xrester's $8$85 billi cuts stay in place, there are more cuts. the plan now moves to the house where it is expected to pass. despite promises to close down the detention center at guantanamo bay, the u.s. is considering a $150 million overhaul now of the facility. the plans include a new dining hall, hospital and guard barracks. lawyers for detainees say unrest among the inmates is growing to life threatening levels.

hunger strikes have tripled. it is the most expensive prison per capita with an operating budget of nearly $177 million, that is more than $1 million for the care and maintenance each of the 166 detainees. the obama administration says this committed to closing gitmo efforts which have been reportedly blocked by congress. with pope francis already carving out his own leadership style, there are new details about where he may stand on some significant issues. in an interview last year the then archbishop floated the possibility of an eventual change to the church's rule of celibacy for priests. he also spoke about his own struggles after being dazzled by a woman he met at a wedding during his training to become a priest. however, francis says for now the discipline of celibacy stands firm. the pope criticized church leaders who covered up abuse of children. he said relocating predator priests was "stupid idea" adding

"you cannot be in a position of power and destroy the life of another person." the book featuring that interview is published in the english version this may. to business now where wall street is coming off another winning session after ben bernanke reaffirmed the federal reserve's position to keep interest rates low until the economy shows stronger signs of growth. for more on what this means for the u.s. economy, let's go to cnbc's karen cho. a rollerer coaster ride the las couple days. >> we're looking for a mixed start. we're expecting to see a bit of a dip out of the gates for the like of the s&p 500 and also the nasdaq. there were gains across the market yesterday. this is exactly what investors are looking to see. the same stimulus train thanks to ben bernanke. we heard that the qe program, $85 billion a month in mortgage and treasury purchase will remain for the foreseeable future. ben bernanke still keeping an

eye out for potential negative effects from the policy. but so far he's promised the markets this will continue. in terms of the commentary around the dart, we did see adjustment lower on the growth forecasts. smament, ben bernanke is pointing to the fact that there has been some improvement in the likes of the housing market. the fiscal consolidation thanks to its playing out for the budget, this is going to have an impact in 2013 growth, 2.3% to 2.8% is the number we're looking at. this is down from 2.3% to 3%. just a small tweak there. 2.9% to #.4%. but the unemployment rate is interesting, too. we're seeing a little movement to the down side. 7.7% is what we've got in february. but the magic number is looking for is 6.5% and it seems we won't hit that level until 2015. bill, back to you. >> wow. so he said won't touch interest rates until unemployment goes to 6.5%. so we're talking another two years of the low rates, karen. so not bad. >> exactly.

>> karen tso, thank you as always. have a great day. as always, let us know why you're awake. what is dazzling you. shoot us an e-mail. we'll read the best responses later in the show. still ahead on "way too early," down by 27 points against the former team lebron james stages the come back of his career. it would be enough to keep the win streak alive? the heat versus cav highlights next in sports. and george w. bush is busy in his retirement painting lots of pictures of puppy dogs. we'll show you his brand new masterpieces and get a check of your forecast when "way too early" comes right back. >> i can say this moment, what other nations will not go to the

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welcome back. new york city, a little powdered sugar out there this morning. a little light snow fell overnight. in the suburbs it is sticking. be careful driving in areas outside of the city, especially fli connecticut and rhode island. one-man show this morning. here's what we're going to deal with this morning. we had the light snow overnight. really the big story is the cold. i mean we just started the spring out unbelievably cold. it was freezing yesterday in areas of the great lakes and midwest. that continues today. i mentioned that light snow. again, if you're driving interstate 95, going from about west chester county through southern connecticut, there will be a half inch to an inch out there on the ground. maybe out there later today we could get a little accumulating snow south of boston, maybe about one to three inches.

nothing huge. just enough to cause problems. as far as what we're dealing with the wind chills, fargo is at minus 11 right now. still very cold through the great lakes down to the ohio valley. that is not going to change any time soon until they melt the snow on the ground. this is the thing that is upsetting the most, our long range computers tells us how much it's going to snow in general shows a storm coming down from colorado and going through the middle of the country where there is significant snow. maybe even enough snow to plow. so we'll have more on that. again, that will be more into the beginning of next week. as far as the forecast for today, snow showers again boston, still very chilly. all the way down to d.c. high today around 39. much below average. the southeast is a little better. you get the gist of it. we're kind of stuck here in this march dull droms of winter. let's turn to sports now. a chance for poetic justice in cleveland. the cavaliers looking to put an end to lebron james and the heat's 23-game win streak. the cavs came out firing.

they blow past lebron with a hesitation move. cleveland goes up 22 points. by the end of the first half. the heat will be down as many as 27 in the third. but in the fourth, lebron leads the come back. hitting the three to tie the game at 77 all. later in the fourth, more from lebron. he hits another three to give the heat the lead. that was part of a 40-12 run. last chance for the cavs down by three, the deep three to tie. back of the rim. the heat go on to win. they were down like almost 30 at the half. 98-95. tying the biggest come back in the nba this season. miami's win streak is now at 24 games. nine short of the lakers record of 33 straight wins. so the heat only four of their next ten, again, they need ten more games to break that winning streak. only four of them have winning records. the toughest test will be march 31st. that's in san antonio against the spurs. that could be the game of the regular season. should they go on to win that, they go for the record april 9th, possibly against the

milwaukee bucks. college basketball now. lasalle fatesing boise state in dayton for the right to take on fourth seeded kansas state in the round of 64. to the second half. lasalle up by 10. garland puts the spin move on the defender and lays it in to push the explorers lead to 12. later in the half, ramon galloway, he hits a nice banker and drive in the lane. they win by the final of 80-71, locking up the 13th seed in the west. more from the first round. lewis took on my wife last night. what? the fighting bird dogs of jmu, that's where lewis graduated. my wife's alma mater, liu brooklyn. e.j. reed throws it down to get them down within one at the halftime. pushes up the court. charles cook in there for the easy slam. draws the foul. jmu goes on to win 68-55. we assume that lewis has shown some school spirit and has his alma mater moving past indiana.

yeah, right, in the next round. funny part of that whole thing is either my wife or lewis knew there was a basketball game last night. we showed you president obama's final four bracket. now we'll see who the commander in chief picked to win it all. >> louisville against ohio state. who gets to the title game? >> i'm going louisville. i know it's not surprise pick and i'm going with indiana. these are the two best teams right now and for the championship, i'm going back to the big ten. i think this is indiana's year. >> all right. president obama taking indiana to win it all. but espn also gave kid president the chance to fill out the tournament bracket. if you haven't seen this yet, it's not too late to also change your picks. >> everybody talking about march madness. i'm march gladness. time to turn the season around,

people. time for hope! >> creighton against duke. >> duke. they're the bad guys. >> who coaches duke? >> mike krzyzewski. >> you have montana moving on again. there you go. marquette. awesome. who wins out of indiana or michigan? >> wolverines! taste the fur. taste the claws. >> gonzaga or michigan? >> oh, no. >> who's going to win it all? >> this is bad. i'm going for my favorite, gonzaga! done. >> sorry, mr. president, that was a lot more entertaining. just for the record books, i'm in with louisville, new mexico, georgetown and louisville with l louisville beating indiana. richard hosel join the "morning joe" crew along with

andrea mitchell live in jerusalem to preview the day ahead. when we come back here, we'll huddle around the water cooler where my one-man show continues. tina fey doesn't miss a beat. we'll show that you clip when "way too early" comes right back. hey, our salads. [ bop ] [ bop ] [ bop ] you can do that all you want, i don't like v8 juice. [ male announcer ] how about v8 v-fusion. a full serving of vegetables, a full serving of fruit. but what you taste is the fruit. so even you... could've had a v8.

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we told you at the top of the show that president obama visited israel yesterday. he met with president benjamin netanyahu to visit mark president obama's first since taking the oval office in 2008. if you want to sound smart to y today, tell your friends that of the last 11 presidents, bill clinton and bush visited israel more than once while in office. clinton made the trip four times and bush traveled to israel twice. enough with the real news. let's gather around the water cooler for the early outtakes from president obama's middle east trip. hours before he arrived in israel, his massive nine ton armored limo broke down. the beast as the car is known, had to be towed to a garage after mechanical failure. not sure how you replace a vehicle with eight inch thick steel doors but the secret service did. they bring multiple vehicles and even the mechanic on the trips just in case.

and quite a way to say thank you, president obama brought a magnolia church to shimon perez. but as soon as president obama left, the israelis dug it up. the tree was sent off for pesticide testing. foreign plants have to undergo a series of checks. according to reports, the tests could take months. i think they may want to have done their home work and figured that out before. last month a hacker got ahold of some of george w. bush personal e-mail revealing the 43rd president's hidden hobby, oil painting. let me know if i'm too loud. here are some self portraits showing bush in the shower and one of the former president soaking in a bathtub. the hobby is more like a talent. the hacker revealed more photos of bush's masterpieces, a cat, a chubby cat, moon lit cross and

potted flowers. and one of the things he loves to paint, puppy dogs. bush's art teacher says dogs were his first inspiration. >> i think he said he painted 50 dogs. he pulls out this canvas and starts painting a dog. i said oh, my god. i call him 43 because that's the way he signed his paintings. 43. i mean he has such a passion for painting, it's amazing. he's going to go down in the history books as a great artist. >> that was actually a serious interview. inside the actor studio with host james lip ton on tuesday night, we're talking tina fey. did she give it to us again? she gave us an updated test of her parody, the character of sarah palin. >> you asked joe biden if you could call him joe. is that right? >> uh-huh. >> you served only half a term. so what is the right term of at dress? >> well, i'll tell you. i don't know.

i'm a half governor or you could call me a maverick at large. >> same sex marriage, what is your view on that? >> well, the bible says it's gross. marriage is meant for people who wear different kinds of swimsuits. >> what do you think of tina fey's portrayal of you? >> it's the best one i never watched. >> i'm not sure why i feel a little more lonely ever since this segment started. >> do you have any catchup? i have a hamburger coming. >> we'll get a cure for alzheimer's. don't worry, buddy. "way too early," why you are awake. your tweets, e-mails and texts are next and "morning joe" is moments away. [ mom ] 3 days into school break and they're already bored.

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